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Six Tips For Using Filters to Improve Your Landscape Photos

05 Oct

One of the secrets to good landscape photography is the way in which you capture various elements of the scene. Sure, you can let your camera do the heavy lifting and figure out the exposure. But a landscape photo doesn’t have to be a literal interpretation of what you see, or of what your camera sees when left to its own devices. While post-processing can help make adjustments to an image so that it’s less literal than what you saw, making certain adjustments at the time of capture is more important, giving you something special to work with when the time comes to edit the image in post. Using filters such as polarizers, neutral density, and graduated neutral density filters can help you capture the scene in more creative ways. These tips for using filters can help you start making these adjustments and creating more dynamic images.

Filter Tips

The following tips can help you start making these adjustments and creating more dynamic images.

1 – Use a polarizer to improve the sky

Using filters - a polarizer to reduce haze in an image.

A polarizer cut through the morning mist to reveal blue sky in this shot of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

I believe every photographer should have a polarizing filter in their camera bag because of how useful they can be. Polarizers work by filtering out light that is reflected directly toward the camera at specific angles. When photographing a landscape with a blue sky, haze can occasionally cause the sky to be less vibrant. Using a polarizer, you can minimize the haze and reveal the true blue of the sky. This will work best when aiming the camera at a 90° angle from the sun; in other words, with the sun to your side.

By rotating the polarizing filter while composing your shot, you can see the effect the filter will have. Be sure you don’t go too far. It is possible to over polarize the scene, creating a darker blue splotch in the sky that will make the use of the filter obvious and the image appear unnatural. This is especially possible with ultra-wide angle lenses that take in a huge expanse of the sky. In the image above, a polarizer was used to reduce the amount of morning mist in the valley and show the blue sky behind the mist.

2 – Use a polarizer to reveal what’s underneath the water

Using filters - a polarizer cut down on reflections on the water's surface.

A polarizer can reduce reflections on the surface of the water to allow you see what’s beneath the surface, and add visual interest to a scene.

Often when photographing a stream or lake, the light may reflect off the water’s surface to such a degree that it’s impossible to see what’s below. However, there may be times when there is something of interest underneath the surface, such as rocks, fish, or logs from fallen trees. Using a polarizer, you can reveal as much or as little of what’s beneath the surface by eliminating the reflecting light.

It doesn’t have to be all or nothing either. You can nuance the effect by rotating the filter just a little bit, to retain some reflecting light while still seeing beneath the surface. In the image above, on the left, no polarizer was used and the reflected light prevents you from seeing below the water’s surface. On the right, a polarizer was used to reduce the reflected light on the water’s surface, allowing you to see the rocks beneath the surface.

3 – Use a polarizer to reduce reflections on wet rocks

In this image, light reflects off of the wet rocks by the waterfall.

using filters - A polarizer can reduce the reflected light from wet rocks.

In this image, a polarizer was used to reduce the reflected light from the wet rocks.

When photographing a waterfall, where there are generally a lot of wet rocks, light can reflect off of them, making them appear shiny. On occasion, that reflected light may be so strong that it detracts from the image. Using a polarizer can reduce the reflected light and reveal more detail in the rocks, adding interest to the image.

As with the water reflections discussed above, you can nuance the effect by rotating the filter to get the right balance of reflected light and detail underneath. In the images above, you can see how the highlights on the rocks can be reduced if desired by using a polarizing filter. Again, by rotating the filter as you look through the viewfinder, or on the live view screen, you can watch the effect happen and adjust it to your liking.

4 – Use Graduated Neutral Density Filters to darken the sky

Using filters - graduated neutral density filters for a better sky.

The difference when using a graduated neutral density filter can be very apparent, as seen in the comparison of these two images.

When photographing the landscape, especially at sunrise or sunset, there is often a high amount of contrast between the sky and the foreground. That forces you to make exposure choices to determine what will be exposed properly. While digital cameras are much improved with regards to dynamic range in recent years, nature can still push your camera to its limits in terms of how much can be captured in a single image.

Graduated neutral density filters can help to reduce the dynamic range of an image, by darkening the brighter areas, like the sky, so that it falls within the range of what the camera can capture. Use Live View on your camera to see the positioning of the filter over the lens, especially when using a hard-edged ND graduated filter. Watch the way the foreground exposure changes in relation to the sky, as it is possible to overdo a good thing. If the sky gets too dark in relation to the foreground, try a less dense filter, for instance, a 2-stop ND grad rather than a 3-stop grad. Above, the image on the left was taken without the use of a graduated neutral density filter. On the right, a 3-stop,

Above, the image on the left was taken without the use of a graduated neutral density filter. On the right, a 3-stop, soft-edged graduated neutral density filter was used to darken the sky. Notice it also has the effect of brightening the foreground in relation to the sky, bringing out more detail in the darker area in the bottom left.

5 – Control the motion of water

Using filters - an ND filter to control the motion of water.

A neutral density filter can be used to help capture the motion of water in a scene.

Because of its nature, moving water is often the most dynamic part of an image. You can create a different mood simply by changing the way you capture water. Longer exposures tend to be more calm and peaceful, while shorter exposures can capture the violence of a crashing wave, or the power of a river going over the falls.

Since shutter speed controls the effect of motion, by using neutral density filters you can evoke both moods by limiting the amount of light that enters your lens. Thus, you can adjust the shutter speed to give you the effect of motion that you want. You may not need a filter for faster shutter speeds, but if it’s a bright day and you want to slow things down, you’ll need a neutral density filter to do that.

Using a 3-stop ND filter is usually fine for waterfalls to slow them down just enough to get a nice creamy look to the falls, but when capturing waves on the ocean, it may not be enough to get the effect you need. Sometimes four or even five stops of neutral density is needed to get the exposure you need to slow it down to capture water the way you want. Adding a 10-stop neutral density filter will allow you to slow down your shutter speed to a minute or more, eliminating waves completely, creating a calm scene that feels quiet and peaceful as opposed to the crashing waves pounding the rocks or beach.

In the image above, a 3-stop neutral density filter was used to slow down the exposure just enough to allow the water’s motion to be captured as it crashed on the rocks. In the image below, a 10-stop neutral density filter was used to slow down the exposure further, to a full 2-minutes, creating smooth water and a calmer looking scene.

Using filters - a 10-stop ND filter to smooth water during a long exposure.

Using a 10-stop ND filter, you can make water appear calm by using a long exposure. This is a two-minute exposure.

6 – Create motion in clouds

Using filters - Clouds appear as normal when no ND filter is used.

When no neutral density filter is used, clouds are captured as we see them.

Using filters - a 10-stop ND filter to achieve a slower shutter speed of 60 seconds, I was able to capture the motion of the clouds as they passed over New York City.

Using a 10-stop ND filter to achieve a slower shutter speed of 60 seconds, I was able to capture the motion of the clouds as they passed over New York City.

As a landscape photographer, clouds are often the focus of an image or at least a strong component in the composition. Clouds add depth and drama to a good landscape, creating background interest. But you can also manipulate the clouds to your creative advantage as well, capturing their movement and blurring them to create a sense of flight and speed in your scene. By using a strong neutral density filter, such as Lee’s Big Stopper 10-stop ND filter or Vü Filter’s 10-stop offering, you can slow down your shutter speed to allow the motion of the clouds to be captured.

The proper shutter speed to capture cloud movement will vary, depending on how fast the clouds are moving. The longer the exposure, the more movement you will capture. An exposure of 30 seconds to one minute for fast moving clouds, such as in the image above, will result in a motion blur where the clouds still resemble clouds. An exposure of two or three minutes will result in the clouds becoming streaks of color across the sky, unrecognizable as clouds anymore.

Conclusion

One of the complaints I hear about using filters is that it takes too much time to put them on the lens, or it slows you down. I prefer to think of it as being deliberate about the shot I am trying to capture, and making sure that my camera captures exactly what I want.

Do you use filters? What’s your favorite technique using on-camera filters? Please share in the comments below.

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The post Six Tips For Using Filters to Improve Your Landscape Photos by Rick Berk appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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2 Simple Methods for Adding Color to Your Images Using Photoshop

04 Oct

Most of us have experienced photographing an incredible sunrise or sunset only to get home and realize that the colors in your images are not nearly as good as the colors you witnessed with your own eyes. There can be many reasons to this, such as camera limitations or mistakes you made in the field. However, that’s not what you will learn about in this article. Correcting the colors, or adding color, isn’t something you need to spend hours working on. In fact, it can be done in just a few minutes using Adobe Photoshop and you don’t need to be a Photoshop expert to do it.

Trolltunga, Norway – We will be adding color to this sky

As we all know there are many ways to get to Rome, there isn’t only one method of adding colors in Photoshop either. It can, as I mentioned above, be done fairly easy but the more detailed adjustments you wish to make, the harder it will become. In this article, we will be looking at two easy methods to add color in Photoshop.

#1 Adding Color with a Photo Filter

The first method we will look at involves the Photoshop tool called Photo Filter. This is an Adjustment Tool which you can find by clicking the Adjustment Tool icon (the half-filled circle located below the layers palette, see screenshot below). This creates a new layer named Photo Filter 1, which we will be working on.

photo-filter-ps adding color in Photoshop

Photofilter adding color in Photoshop A warming filter is the default setting so, as you might see, the image now has an orange color cast. Personally, I prefer using Warming Filter (LBA) as I find this to have the most natural color that suits my images best (see screenshot on the right). Select this filter by clicking on the Filter dropdown menu. Alternatively, you can select a color manually that might suit your specific image better. If you find the adjustment to be a little too weak you can strengthen its appearance by increasing the Density. I rarely go above 40% Density as the colors then quickly become washed out and results in a look I don’t want.

Photo filter applied to the whole image - adding color in Photoshop

Photo Filter applied to the whole image at 40%

Photo filter - adding color in Photoshop

Photo Filter applied to the whole image at the default 25%

By using this filter we have brought back some of the color in the sky. There’s not a huge difference but we’ve managed to keep a natural look in the image while the sky still looks good. However, there’s one problem. We don’t necessarily want to add the extra color to the landscape itself, we only wanted the sky to be affected.

layer-mask-ps - adding color in Photoshop Left of the Photo Filter 1 text there’s a white box. This is the layer mask, basically telling Photoshop what area of the image should be affected by that particular layer. White means that it’s visible and black means that it’s concealed. By default the entire mask is white. To remove the adjustment from the landscape itself follow these steps:

Select the Layer Mask by clicking on it (it will show square brackets around the mask when it is selected, see screenshot on the right))
Select a black brush and set Hardness to 0%
Reduce the opacity of the brush to 80%
With the Layer Mask still selected, carefully paint on the areas you do not want affected by the filter. You’ll see the adjustment disappear from those places as you paint.

The Photo Filter layer masked to only affect the sky.

This is the easiest way to manually choose where the adjustment will be visible. Unfortunately, it’s also the least accurate. You might see some haloing along the edges or perhaps the color bleeds onto the horizon at certain places. By zooming in on the image and using a smaller brush you’ll be able to reduce the amount of haloing or bleed. Other methods, such as Luminosity Masking, are more accurate but also demand a better understanding of Adobe Photoshop.

#2 Add contrast with Curves Adjustment Layer

Another easy method to add colors is by using the Curves Adjustment Layer. Unlike Photo Filter, we will be using Curves to add contrast in the sky. Follow these steps to do a Curves adjustment:

Open a Curves Adjustment Layer by clicking on the Adjustment Layer icon again, and selecting Curves this time.

You want to add some contrast and increase the colors slightly by darkening the sky. Do this by clicking in the middle of the line in your Curves layer and pulling it down gently. Make sure that you don’t go too far as that will lead to unwanted grain or color distortions.

That’s it. To remove the adjustment from the landscape create another Layer Mask and follow the same steps as with the previous method above.

adding color in Photoshop

As you might have noticed these are two subtle adjustments. You won’t get a surreal sky by following these methods. Instead, you’ll maintain a natural look and still bring out some of the color you wanted to capture.

The post 2 Simple Methods for Adding Color to Your Images Using Photoshop by Christian Hoiberg appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Step by Step Tutorial for How to Shoot Tethered

04 Oct

Tethered shooting is a photography technique that has been practiced by many professional photographers for years. In short, tethering allows you to connect your camera to a computer or tablet and almost instantly view your digital images on the device within seconds after it is captured. Due to expense and accessibility, tethered-shooting was generally reserved for photographers who do a lot of studio work and high-end commercial photo shoots. However, as tethering technology became significantly cheaper and easier to use, tethered shooting as been practiced by professionals and enthusiasts alike.

If you’ve ever been curious about tethered shooting, this article will give a brief overview of the process as well as some steps to easily get started.

By Tyler Ingram

What is tethered shooting?

Tethered photography is the process of connecting your camera to a computer, tablet, or even a smartphone using either a cable or wireless app. After a successful connection between the devices, any new image captured by the camera is then passed directly to the computer and saved in a pre-designated folder. You’re then able to see the image fully displayed on the computer screen and even do some post-processing to the image.

Benefits of tethered shooting

The main benefit of tethered shooting is the ability to quickly preview the image on a large monitor within seconds of capturing it with your camera. This allows both you and a client to scrutinize your images on a big screen, allowing you to make adjustments to the photo shoot as it’s taking place. Depending on the tethering software you’re using, you might even be able to do quick edits to the photo on-site. Both you and the client can see exactly what’s being photographed and can make sure your visions for the shoot are in alignment. Overall, this type of collaboration should lead to a better result.

By Photographer

Downsides of tethered shooting

The ability to almost instantly preview photos as they’re being captured does come with a few downsides.

First, either you or your client could get too caught up in little details while inspecting the photos, and this can stall a photo shoot. Thus, it’s important to set expectations with your client and be able to push forward without focusing too much on details. Second, tethering can suck the battery life out of both your camera and your connected computer. If your tethered photo shoot may take longer than an hour, you’ll want to have extra batteries on hand and be shooting near a wall socket in case you need to plug in. Lastly, tethering software can be notoriously finicky and is prone to not working for no apparent reason, so you’ll want to have a backup plan in case of an outage.

What you need for tethered shooting

The traditional and most reliable way to connect your camera to a computer or another device is by using a cable. There are a variety of different cables and ports available, so which cable you use will depend on your exact devices. Some DSLRs with built-in Wi-Fi even offer wireless tethering or remote shooting, but this is typically limited to being used on a tablet or mobile device only, not a laptop computer.

In this particular instance, we’ll assume the camera is a DSLR and the connected device a laptop computer, as this is a very common tethered shooting setup. In this case, you’ll need:

An extra long (ie. 15 feet) USB cable to connect your camera to your laptop
Tethering software, such as Adobe Lightroom or Canon EOS Utility 3
Optional – a portable table to hold your laptop such as Tether Tools’ Aero Table
Optional – a JerkStopper to prevent accidentally yanking your USB cable from your camera

Tether Table Aero is a lightweight, durable aluminum platform that attaches to almost any tripod or light stand, turning it into a handy utility table for holding a laptop or extra camera gear.

Tether Table Aero for tethered shooting

To be clear, there are many tethered shooting programs available, but this article will highlight two low-cost, simple methods in particular: Adobe Lightroom and EOS Utility 3.

Simple tethered shooting with Lightroom

The quickest and arguably the easiest way to start tethered shooting is by using Adobe Lightroom’s Tethered Capture feature. Follow these steps to set it up:

Step 1 – Connect the camera to the laptop

Connect your DSLR to your laptop with a USB cable. Then turn the camera on.

Step 2 – Start Tethered Capture in Lightroom

Open Lightroom and navigate to File > Tethered Capture > Start Tethered Capture

Step 3 – choose tethered settings

In the Tethered Capture Settings dialogue box, you have the option of choosing a Session Name (e.g., “Tethered Shooting Test,” specifying the photo names, choosing a destination for your photos, and adding metadata and keywords. Be sure to pay particular attention to where the photos will be saved so you can find them later. After setting your options, click OK.

If all goes well, the screen below will pop up, giving you a narrow control panel (outlined in red below) for some light remote shooting options, and a Library in which photos captured via the tethered shooting connection will populate.

tethered-03b

However, it’s not uncommon for Lightroom to have difficulty detecting the connected camera. If you follow the above steps and still see this screen below, try troubleshooting by first making sure your version of Lightroom and your camera’s firmware are both updated. Also, check compatibility to ensure your camera can tether capture with Lightroom. Note: there are third party plugins available for other non-compatible cameras such as the Fuji X-T1, do a search for your camera model and you may find a solution (Pentax here, Sony here.

Finally, try rotating through several different USB cables to make sure they’re working well. But if you’re looking for a more consistent way to tether shoot, check out the other option below.

tethered-04b

Reliable Tethered Shooting with EOS Utility 3

If you shoot with a Canon DSLR, whip out that CD that came with your camera and install the EOS Utility 3 onto your computer. When your Canon DSLR is connected to your computer, you’ll be able to use this program to control your camera remotely and shoot tethered. This method is much more reliable and consistent than using Lightroom’s tethered capture option.

Steps for using EOS Utility 3 for tethering:

Start by downloading the EOS Utility 3 and opening it on your computer. Click on the “Remote shooting” option.
Selecting that option will display the following interface. The display gives you the ability to alter some settings such as white balance or drive mode on your camera directly from this interface, but there are still some functions, such as lens zooming, that you’ll have to do manually.
While still in the Remote Shooting setting of EOS Utility 3, set your camera to Live View mode, and tethered shooting will be enabled. In this case, Live View will appear directly on your computer screen so you will see exactly what your camera sees. When you take a photo in tethered shooting mode, the captured photo will appear on your desktop.

Over to you

These are just two of many options available for tethered shooting. Do you frequently shoot tethered? If so, what types of programs do you use for reliable results? Please let us know your tethered shooting tips and tricks in the comments below.

The post Step by Step Tutorial for How to Shoot Tethered by Suzi Pratt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Tips for Taking the Torture out of Extended Family Portrait Sessions

04 Oct

I have yet to meet someone who loves getting their picture taken with the whole extended family. The thought of getting all the dramatic aunts, crazy uncles, wild kids, and tired grandparents together and smiling all at the same time seems nearly impossible, and not at all fun. I know of many photographers who refuse to do big family portraits because they can be so unpleasant. I have grown to love big extended family portrait sessions throughout the years. You can too, whether you’re the photographer, or one of the silly cousins getting her photo taken.

Extended Family Portrait Session

Think of big groups as your own family

The first thing that helped me love extended family sessions was the way that I thought of them. Instead of a difficult crazy session, I try to think of them as my own family, and take the photos with love. Let me share a story that may change your mind about extended family sessions too.

A while ago I was asked to add a missing brother to an extended family photo. The entire family had been there when they had the photo taken, except for this one brother who couldn’t get off work. Months later, one of the other brothers tragically passed away. Their most recent family portrait wasn’t complete, and they’d never be able to get a new one.

So, I took this working brother to the same location, took a photo of him, worked him into the photo through the magic of Photoshop. I matched everything the best that I could, so they could have the last most complete family portrait. It made me realize how fragile life is, and how fragile families are. If I have an opportunity to capture a family right now, today, as they are, I’m happy to do it. You never know when or why that portrait may become priceless to them.

Not only are these photos precious and invaluable, but they can be a lot of fun, and not too difficult to pull off. Let me give you some tips to help.

Extended Family Portrait Session

Take charge, be bold, move fast

When you’re working with a big group of people, someone has to be in charge. That person is you, the photographer. This is not a time to be timid and quiet, hoping things will fall into place. As soon as you’re ready to start, get everyone’s attention. Taking charge right away will let them know that you are confident, that you know what you are doing, and that they can trust you. Smile a lot, and if it works for you, throw in some humor. Tell your group that if they will listen to you closely, and do everything you say, that it will be quick, painless, and even fun. Everyone there likes to hear “quick, painless, and fun”, so you’ll have their attention right away.

Don’t take a long time getting everything situated. Have everything scoped out beforehand, and have a firm idea of where and how you will place everyone. Know what order you will be photographing each group, and if you have any stragglers, kindly, but firmly move them toward the picture location. If there are a lot of small children, this is especially imperative. You will lose their interest and patience so quickly, so you need to take advantage of any time when they are even remotely cooperative. You won’t get any good photos when everyone is exhausted and sick of you, so you have to be done before that happens.

Extended Family Portrait Session

Add some personality

With a big group, it seems like you might only have one option – get everyone to look at you, and hope they are smiling. Many clients do want a more traditional family photo, very posed, with everyone looking and smiling. But try giving them a few photos with a little bit of their family’s personality. When you are working with so many people it’s really hard to get a perfect traditional photo anyway. Most of my clients know that isn’t really my style, so they are happy with the more fun, casual photos.

My favorite thing is to ask everyone to hug in to Grandpa and Grandma, or hug someone next to them. Set everyone up for the more formal photo, and once you’ve captured that, just ask them all to hug. Usually it feels silly enough that they start to laugh, and you get genuine laughs and connection.

Extended Family Portrait Session

Try different poses and positions

It can be a challenge to know how to arrange a really big family group. You could easily have four generations in one photo, which can add even more challenges with arrangements. Some families like family photos where they are all squished in together, in one big family group. I’ve had some that want them completely mixed up, where nobody is grouped into separate families. This is okay, but I find that most families like to at least be able to tell which small families within the group belong together. You can do this by just having each family stand next to each other, or you can even put gaps in between each family. I usually do both, so they have options to choose from later.

I usually place Grandpa and Grandma in the center then evenly distribute their children’s families on either side.

Extended Family Portrait Session

My style doesn’t involve a lot of props, so you won’t notice a lot of chairs and stools in my family photos. They are an option if you’d like to create different levels, but it usually takes a lot of time to get that set up, and your subjects lose patience fast. I prefer a more casual, natural look to something that looks very precise and contrived. Sometimes worrying about those extra things can cause a lot of stress for you, and for your families, and make the whole process more of a chore. But feel free to use them if it’s your style and preference.

Extended Family Portrait Session

Find suitable locations

If you want to have some seated photos, look for locations that have places to sit built in. I love rocks, logs, or even park benches. You can also have some people sit on the ground, some kneel, some stand, but again, be careful not to take so long over-posing that you lose their patience.

It can be difficult to find a place that will work for such a large group. Try to find locations with simple backgrounds that don’t detract from the faces. If possible, schedule the session during the early morning or evening, to take advantage of better lighting. Look for places that have large trees or buildings to filter the light. It’s much harder to make difficult lighting situations work with 30 people than it is when you’re just photographing one.

Don’t move around a lot with a large family once you’ve found a good spot. Find one or two good backgrounds, three if they’re really close to each other, and stick with them. This will keep their photo groupings more consistent with each other, and will make the session go much faster and smoother. Try getting 30 people to move quickly over to a different rock, and you’ll see what I mean.

Extended Family Portrait Session

Get all the break-off groupings

Once you’ve photographed the big huge family, it’s time to get all of the little groups. Keep this moving quickly, and be efficient moving from one group to the next. Here’s a list of the different groupings that I do:

Entire extended family
Grandpa and Grandma (Dad and Mom) alone
Dad and Mom with their children (siblings)
Dad and Mom with their children and children’s spouses
All the siblings
The siblings and their spouses
Grandpa and Grandma with the grandchildren
All the grandchildren
The sisters together
The brothers together
Each separate family

I don’t do every one of these every time. It depends on what the family wants. Also, I know every family is different, and there may not be Mom and Dad, or any grandchildren, etc. This is just to give an idea of how you might break the groupings up.

I try to do the whole family first, and then the smaller groupings. Because it’s hardest to get everyone paying attention and happy for the whole group, you want to get that in when everyone’s fresh. However, sometimes some of the families arrive before others. It’s a great use of time to take the photos of those families while you’re waiting for the entire group to get there. They’ll be happy that they’re finished early, and that they don’t have to sit around doing nothing while they’re waiting for the latecomers.

Extended Family Portrait Session

A few more tips

Remember when you’re working with big families, that letting go of perfection can save you, and them, from a miserable experience. Kids often don’t cooperate, and sometimes some of the family is really grumpy about being there for photos. Do the best you can, and let the rest go. If there are little ones not looking at the camera, or even crying, you are still capturing that family at this moment in time, and giving them a gift. They may end up treasuring the silly faces, and loving the memories of when one grandchild was going through his never-sit-still phase.

Direct the adults

Tell the parents and grandparents to do their best to continue looking at you and smiling, even if you are trying to get their kids’ attention. Many a good photo is ruined by a parent looking down and lecturing their child right at the moment when the child finally does look up and smile. If the adults are picture-ready at all times, then you will have a chance at catching the split second that their kid smiles, and they’ll be smiling too.

Extended Family Portrait Session

Shoot lots of the big group

Take LOTS of photos in a row with the big group. You may think that you have what you need, but then later when you look at the photos full size, you’ll realize that Uncle Bob blinked in every single one. If you take a lot of photos, one right after the other, you can do head swaps later if you need to open some eyes. If they’re taken at approximately the same time, it will be really easy to change the faces, because they’ll be in the same place in every photo.

Love your families

Lastly, remember to love the families you are photographing. They love each other, even through their faults and imperfections, enough to want to preserve a moment in their lives. This photo is so important to at least one person there. Important enough to go through all the hassle of gathering their entire family together in one place at one time. They are trusting you to give them this cherished gift. Consider yourself one of the family for that hour or so, and let your lens capture the love.

The post Tips for Taking the Torture out of Extended Family Portrait Sessions by Melinda Smith appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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5 Tips for Using a Kit Lens for Travel Photography

03 Oct

There are many good reasons not to use a kit lens for travel photography. If a kit lens is the only lens you own and you have a photography trip planned, you may be thinking about buying a better quality mid-range zoom or even a prime lens to replace or accompany it.

Kit lens in travel photography

But before you do so, I want to tell you a story.

Why a kit lens isn’t so bad after all

10 years ago I bought my first digital SLR, a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT. I had switched systems from Pentax so I didn’t have any lenses to use with it. The camera came with an 18-55mm kit lens, and undecided about what other lenses I needed, I took it with me on an extended trip to South America.

I soon realized that the quality of the lens was not as good as it could be (I nearly used the word horrible). It wasn’t sharp and there was lots of chromatic aberration and purple fringing in my photos. Canon have since discontinued that early kit lens and replaced it with another, better one.

But that lens and camera combination gave me a tremendous amount of freedom. It was light enough enough to carry with me everywhere. I never had to change lenses, which helped keep the sensor reasonably free of dust. I had a wide-angle lens at 18mm, a short telephoto at 55mm, and all the focal lengths in-between.

It was during this trip that I had time to think about my future and what I wanted to do with it. I decided that I wanted to write about photography for a living.

Five months later I sold my first feature to Practical Photography magazine, illustrated with photos taken in South America with the Digital Rebel XT and that same kit lens. Yes, the lens may have been horrible, and I’d never want to go back to that camera and lens combination, but the photos I took with it were good enough to be published in a major photography magazine.

Kit lens in travel photography

What lessons can we learn from this? Here are some of the key lessons.

1. Your equipment matters, but not in the way you think

The key thing is that the equipment you chose to take with you is light enough for you to take just about everywhere, so that you don’t miss any photo opportunities that present themselves. That’s one of the reasons that mirrorless cameras and high end compacts have become popular with travellers.

Relating this back to lenses, one of the benefits of prime lenses is that they tend to be smaller and lighter than better quality mid-range zooms.

Kit lens in travel photography

2. Location and timing are more important than gear

Travel photography is about getting yourself to interesting places, when the light is beautiful, so that you can take photos that evoke the mood and atmosphere. If you don’t do this, it doesn’t really matter what camera and lens you have. Your photos won’t be as interesting as those from people who do take the trouble to do these things.

Kit lens in travel photography

The photo above was taken during a 4-day jeep trip in south-west Bolivia. It’s a remote location at 4200 meters above sea level in the Andes that I never would have seen without going on that trip. It doesn’t matter what camera and lens you have, you’ll never take photos like this if you don’t make the effort to get to places like this one.

3. You need to interact with the locals

You get more out of the journey on a personal level when you talk to local people. The ability to confidently communicate gives you the chance to learn about their lives and the way of life of people from a different place or country.

It also opens up the number of photographic opportunities that come your way. Perhaps the people you talk to would like to have their photos taken, if you ask. Or you can ask people what local sights they can recommend for you to visit with your camera. You will learn about local temples, markets, festivals and other interesting cultural events or places that make good subjects.

Kit lens in travel photography

I came across this scene in Punta Arenas, Chile (above) and was struck by the contrast between the expensive looking racing car and the houses. These two guys were happy for me to take a photo. The confidence to talk to people in this type of situation, and ask for permission to take a photo, is just as important as your gear.

4. Money is always a factor

Travel can be expensive, and it may be wiser spending money on experiences than gear. You don’t want to be in the situation of having spent so much on lenses that you don’t have enough money left to do all the things you would like on your journey.

Kit lens in travel photography

5. Kit lenses are not perfect

I think it’s wise to acknowledge at this point that there are many reasons why you might want to buy a better lens than your kit lens. You might need a prime lens with a wide aperture for shooting in low light or experimenting with shallow depth-of-field. Or you may need a shorter focal length or a longer one. A weatherproof lens so you can shoot with confidence in the rain might also be handy.

These are all valid reasons for buying a better lens. Most photographers who start out with a kit lens end up buying better ones eventually. My photos were published in spite of me using a kit lens, not because of it.

But if a kit lens is all you have, there is no need to worry. You will have plenty of opportunities to buy better lenses in the future. For now, just get out there and seize the moment. Enjoy your trip, have a wonderful experience and make as many beautiful images as you can.

Kit lens in travel photography

Mastering Lenses

If you want to know more about buying and using lenses then please check out my ebook Mastering Lenses: A Photographer’s Guide to Creating Beautiful Photos With Any Lens.

The post 5 Tips for Using a Kit Lens for Travel Photography by Andrew S. Gibson appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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9 Tips for Creating Great Street Portraits

02 Oct

I love taking street portraits. Whether the people you are photographing are posing or just going about their day-to-day life, humans are the most captivating, strange and interesting of subjects.

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Most of my portraits taken out on the street are shot with the permission of the subject. That’s my style. I love looking for people who intrigue me. I often signal them with a smile and gesture of my camera, then watch for their reaction. But I also shoot unposed portraits and life on the street, whatever catches my eye.

I know from my workshops that a lot of people find photographing strangers difficult and even, sometimes, terrifying. What is important to remember though, is that most people like to be noticed. It’s a compliment to be seen and thought of as interesting. But if they don’t like it, then the worst that can happen is that you have to delete the photo. Simple. Plus the more you do this, the easier it gets.

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Here are some tips for creating interesting and evocative street portraits:

#1 – Simplicity

“The one guiding idea was to strip away the visual noise of the street so that the people emerge in a different and hopefully more surprising way.” Eamonn Doyle

I am a lover of simplicity in my composition and when it comes to street portraits, simplicity really is your friend. One thing that ruins so many portraits is a busy, complicated background. A background that’s too busy will make your image look flat because your camera can’t capture the depth that your eye can. You have to create depth yourself with your composition. A busy background will swallow up your subject and distract your eye.

One of my favourite types of backgrounds for street portraits is something clean, colourful, and strong, like the image below. The line in the middle creates a really strong balancing element for the subject. The strength of the colours and line contrast nicely with this older man, who with that slight smile looks like he knows a thing or two about life.

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#2 – Break the world down into elements

You can simplify the purpose of composition into the idea that you are simply breaking down the world into elements and organizing them in an interesting way.

I find it really helpful to look at composition with this in mind – that all you are doing is organizing the world’s elements. It helps because our eyes make things very complicated for us photographically as we see everything in 3D. Not only do we see and sense hundreds of thousands of pieces of visual information every minute from all around us, but our senses can pick up on things happening behind us as well.

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To break this visual overload created by your eyes when you are bringing the world into your frame, start by breaking down what you see around you into elements – an interesting mural, strong lines on the road, beautiful shadows, etc. Then build your composition up from there. You only need one or two interesting elements to make a photo. Ones that work together and say something through their balance, shape, or placement.

An example

This photo below is super simple. Very little going on, but I like it. What do you think makes it work? There are a couple of strong elements here that make it an interesting photo. Firstly it’s the hand holding the newspaper with a glimpse of the face reading. Then the man farther ahead walking.

Now these two men, combined with that strong line of the wall, makes it look to me like a conveyor belt. You know that it’s morning, partly because of the sun, and then the newspaper, that’s the kind of thing you do on the way to work right? So now you have a little story, perhaps about the repetitiveness and the monotony of the human experience?

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I don’t always see a story in an image when I am shooting; often that comes after when I’m looking at my photos and sharing them. But what I do concentrate on is looking for interesting elements and figuring out how to place them together to make an interesting composition.

#3 – It’s all in the eyes

“The face is a picture of the mind as the eyes are its interpreter.” Marcus Tullius Cicero

When you are starting out taking photos of people it can be a scary experience. So much so that you often rush too much – perhaps in an effort to get it done as quickly as possible and to not offend or upset anyone. But the more you shoot street portraits, and the more effort you make to relax into the experience, the more you can work on revealing the deeper emotions of your subject.

When you take a more relaxed and patient approach you give people the space to unfold and reveal their thoughts and feelings through their bodies, faces and, most powerfully, their eyes. Eyes tell you how the subject is feeling, and often thinking.

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This is where having a camera is an advantage. As humans we don’t usually look into someone’s eyes for long periods of time. It’s too powerful! It takes the interaction with that human to another level. If you have a camera between you and your subject though, it acts as a sort of safe barrier. So you can then spend time observing them, seeing what their face is doing, looking into their eyes, and seeing how they really feel.

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#4 – Be patient humans do funny things

“You don’t have to enhance reality. There is nothing stranger than truth.” Annie Leibovitz

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For me taking photos of people on the street is all about opening yourself up to, and noticing the comedy of being human, as Elliot Erwitt calls it.

“You can find pictures anywhere. It’s simply a matter of noticing things and organizing them. You just have to care about what’s around you and have a concern with humanity and the human comedy.” Elliott Erwitt

#5 – Find a great background and wait

There is a tradition in street photography that you find an interesting location; a background, a road, or sign, and then you wait for someone or something to happen in front of it. It requires patience, which is a very good thing to develop. I’ve noticed that patience is something that beginners often lack. Possibly because we live in a world that is so used to immediate gratification that we expect good shots to come in abundance.

It rarely works like that. I therefore like this idea of finding something interesting out on the street – some elements, or a place that fascinates you, then waiting for something to happen. It’s a great way to train your eye, and perfect your timing. Plus, when you continually gaze at one place you become very familiar, very intimate with it. You’ll notice things that initially you didn’t see.

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#6 – Use colour

“I paint because colour is a significant language to me.” Georgia O’Keeffe.

Colour is also a significant language for me and I have always preferred shooting colour over black and white. I love the feeling you can communicate with colour and I think it moves me as much as light. So for me it’s an integral part of my style.

Street photography is often dominated by black and white photography. Although what I am doing is often not strict street photography (however, Bruce Gilden, controversial street photographer extraordinaire, did say “If you can smell the street by looking at the photo, it’s a street photograph.”).

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Whether you use colour or black and white, do what excites you the most. The more excited you are by your subject and what you are creating, the more you’ll imbue your photos will feeling and depth.

Colours communicate different feelings and ideas (e.g., yellow is warm and happy, green is peaceful, red signals confidence and aliveness). I love to use them to contribute to the story that I am telling with my images.

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#7 – Your camera is your licence to be curious

“I love that having a camera basically gives you a license to go up to anyone and ask them what they’re doing and why.” Andrew Hinderaker

Most people are perfectly happy to be photographed. That’s the key when you’re going out and about. My mantra when taking photos of strangers is – be confident (this comes with practice), friendly, curious, and ethical. In other words, I prefer to photograph people who are okay with the experience. I don’t generally photograph kids and the obviously vulnerable, etc. That’s my ethical line. For me photography is an exchange and I respect everyone whom I photograph.

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Humans are built to want to connect with other humans, and photography is a powerful form of connection when you use it as such. When you are taking someone’s photo you are basically saying – I see you, you interest me. And for most people that’s a wonderful compliment.

For me the portrait above is about two things, the light and the couple smiling. The warmth of their smiles match the warmth of the light, as well as the lush, summery background of grass and trees. I took this photo by just smiling at the couple and gesturing with my camera. Of course the fact that it was a beautiful summer’s evening and we were in the park helped. People who are relaxing and enjoying themselves are, of course, easier subjects to approach.

#8 – The power of the gesture

The more closely you watch humans the more you see how they reveal themselves in so many ways. This was a photo I took for a project I was doing on people’s bellies. Each photo was totally different because the way that people presented their bellies and the gestures they made, showed so much about their personalities, what they felt about themselves, and their bodies.

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Keep watch of people’s gestures. Along with the eyes, hands are very revealing of people’s feelings and thoughts (and apparently hands are easier to read than eyes if you want to tell if someone is lying).

#9 – The key to original, interesting photos is to be yourself

“I’m photographing myself out there. Not myself physically, but mentally. It’s my take on the world.” Bruce Gilden

A lot of people in workshops worry about how over-photographed the world seems now and will they ever have anything interesting or original to contribute? Hasn’t it all been done before? Well, this is the wrong way to think about it. Of course the world is very photographed now. Especially places that I visit, London, Paris, Venice, Istanbul, etc.

But the world isn’t a staid thing – it’s an ever-changing, ever moving, organism. Nothing stays the same. Having humans moving around the world makes the possibilities for original and interesting photos infinite.

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More importantly though, photography is an expression of who you are. When you start out perhaps you’ll take photos like everyone else. But the more you do it, the more you’ll create something unique and original that’s a total expression of who you are – your passions, experience, style, and way of seeing the world. This creates the unique and interesting photographs that you are aiming for. It’s just like famous jazz musician Miles Davis says:

“Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.”

Conclusion

I’d love to know what you think. What do you do to create interesting street portraits? Comment below, I’d love to hear your ideas!

Taking street portraits and exploring the street life of cities with your camera is an exhilarating experience. Learn how to conquer your fears of street photography and to create compelling compositions with Anthony’s popular street photography workshops in some of the most vibrant cities Europe.

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How to Save and Use Stackable Lightroom Presets

02 Oct

Lightroom presets are basically post-processing shortcuts that can save you tons of time and really speed up your editing workflow. They allow you to save a particular set of edits and apply them later with a single click. Presets can either be a final solution or a great starting point from where you can further tweak and perfect your images.

Processed Image featured

Making development presets is incredibly easy and effective working in Adobe Lightroom CC. It even gives you the option to import presets made by others into your own library. Chances are, if you’re a seasoned photographer, you have used presets at some point.

But are you really getting the most from the huge range of editing control that presets can give you? In this article, you will learn just how versatile your Lightroom preset options can be and how you can essentially stack multiple presets to achieve the exact result you want.

The Basics

Just as a refresher, let’s go over the steps for creating and saving presets in Lightroom. Here is a original RAW file of a mountain meadow in the early morning mist.

RAW Image

I applied some basic edits to the RAW file which consist of contrast, clarity, whites and shadows, warming, and then finally sharpening to get the following result:

Processed Image

How to save a Preset

It’s looking decent. Hmmm, if you feel these edits might work for some similar images later, why not make a preset to save some clicking next time? To do this, you must first create a folder to house your presets. Click the Develop dropdown at top left or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+N (Command+Option+N for Mac).

Preset Folder

Then name your freshly minted folder so you can easily locate it later.

Preset Folder Naming

Now you will see your brand new folder appear under the Presets drop down menu.

Preset Folder Location

Since you now have a destination for your preset you can go about actually saving the preset itself. To do this, simply go back to the Develop drop down and select New Preset. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+N (Command+Option+N for Mac) or just click the + symbol next to the Presets menu on the left panel (see below). A fairly large dialog box will appear bring along with it a host of options for saving your preset. First things first, come up with a name for your preset and then select the folder you made earlier as the destination.

Save preset

If you leave the Check All option selected, all the edits you made with any of the sliders and filter tools will be saved. Click on Create at the bottom right of the dialog box and viola! You will see your newly created preset appear in the folder to the left.

Preset Location

Preset conflicts

In most Lightroom preset tutorials that would be all you would do. But this isn’t most tutorials. In order to have full control over your presets you have to go a little deeper and that hinges on just how far you are willing to venture down the post-processing rabbit hole.

Here is the final image from which I saved the Morning Landscape 1 preset with the Check All settings applied.

morning_landscape_preset

If I attempt to apply another preset, all of the current settings will be changed to whatever values the new preset dictates. Here is the same image after clicking another preset from my preset library.

Preset Conflict

The problem that arises when you try to combine multiple presets is that you can’t do it without the processing values conflicting and overriding one another. Or can you? Well, yes and no.

Remember, that dialog box asking which edits you wanted to save that appeared earlier while you were making the preset? That dialog box is the key to being able to stack multiple editing presets so you can apply different adjustments without them overriding one another. Let me show you how.

Stacking Lightroom Presets

It comes down to which edits you choose to save when creating your preset. Instead of selecting to save each and every adjustment, you can select only the ones you want. This way, you can avoid conflicting edits when you apply multiple presets. That means you can have a preset folder for various Clarity edits, a folder for Contrast and Exposure, a folder for Vignettes, or virtually any combination of any adjustment in Lightroom. Here’s how it’s done.

How to do it

I’ve created a folder called Clarity and Sharpness. This will be where I keep the Sharpness and Clarity (and even Dehaze) adjustments. I then created a folder for Exposure and Contrast and another for warming and cooling effects aptly titled Warming and Cooling.

Each one of these folders contains presets related to their respective edits to varying degrees of intensity. When saving for the Clarity and Sharpness folder click the uncheck all box and then select ONLY the Clarity, Sharpness, and Dehaze boxes. This way, any other edits will be left as they are and only these settings will change once you apply your presets.

Do this with the presets you save for the Exposure and Contrast and Warming and Cooling folders except only check the respective edit boxes to save for each.

For Exposure and Contrast, select only the relevant boxes as seen here.

Do the same for the Clarity and Sharpness folder.

Saving separate presets which only affect certain aspects of your processing will allow a huge range of preset adjustments to be applied without affecting all the other unrelated edits from another preset. Essentially letting you stack one preset on top of another.

Applying the new presets

Let’s look at an example. Here is the RAW image again to which we will now apply our selective presets one by one.

RAW image.

First I will apply the Exposure and Contrast + preset.

Exposure and Contrast +

Next, I will add the Warming 2 preset.

Warming 2

And lastly, I will Sharpen and Clarify the photo with my Clarity and Sharpness Dehaze ++ preset.

Clarity and Sharpness Dehaze 2

Conclusion

By saving your presets in a way which targets only specific edits, you essentially enable yourself to allow the presets to work together. This way, quickly editing your photos becomes much more controllable and streamlined because you can apply different presets in tandem without disrupting the edits applied by each.

This advanced knowledge of creating, saving, and applying Lightroom presets can remove a lot of the headache from your post-processing conundrums. It can give you, for lack of a better word, limitless combinations of adjustment possibilities. What might have taken you an hour’s worth of post-processing can now be reduced to only three or four clicks of your mouse.

While presets might not be a one and done method for editing your photos they can still give you a wonderful starting point to base your more in-depth editing. By being able to apply multiple presets to one image you will have even more of a head start in your processing workflow. Work smarter – not harder.

How do you use Lightroom presets? Please share in the comments below.

The post How to Save and Use Stackable Lightroom Presets by Adam Welch appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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5 Tried and True Landscape Photography Tips used by the Pros

02 Oct

Have you ever found yourself wondering how do the professionals (pros) consistently turn out amazing photos day after day, year after year and what are some of their secrets? So besides knowing their camera like their best friend, what are some of the things that the pros do? Here are some tried and true landscape photography tips used by the pros.

DesertStorm Landscape Photography Tips used by the Pros

1. Experimentation

Experimenting is one of the best ways to shake yourself up out of the doldrums and yes even pros use it to get their creative juices flowing.

Try photographing something totally outside your comfort zone or even a different subcategory within your preferred genre. If landscape photography is your thing, you are probably already a master of the golden hours (sunrise and sunset). So experimentation can start with shooting a nightscape or even a long exposure in the middle of the day.

Note: I would highly advise against experimenting at someone’s wedding!

Night Sky Landscape Photography Tips used by the Pros

How about introducing a human element into your landscape and allowing them to be a part of the story? Experimenting keeps you on the learning path and when you learn, you grow as a photographer. It is about challenging yourself to do something different and pushing your boundaries.

Landscape Model Landscape Photography Tips used by the Pros

2. Making it your own

Many places on your photography list have already been captured hundreds of times. That thought can make you throw your hands up in the air and decide you may as well just recreate it. Before you think of recreating, try to showcase it differently. What else can you do? Is there another foreground element you can add or take away? One of the things that make pro’s work stand out from the rest, is their perspective and ability to make a place seem like you are seeing it for the first time.

Maracas Bay, Trinidad - landscape photography tips from the pros

While it’s not always easy to create something unique and new, your originality is one of the things that will set you apart. Can you get a different angle, add or detract an element when composing, or shoot it differently (e.g. with light trails or multiple exposures)? How about getting off the trail and the popular view areas and charting your own course to find another perspective? There is no problem in finding inspiration in someone else’s work, but at all times keep in mind that you want your work to stand out

There is no problem in finding inspiration in someone else’s work. But keep in mind that you want your work to stand out, as your own.

Guardians - landscape photography tips from the pros

3. Tell a story

Someone said that “being a good photographer does not necessarily translate into being a good storyteller.” Being able to evoke the emotions of your audience should always be a goal, though. Keep in mind that the purpose of your photo story is to interest, instruct, or amuse your audience.

Decide how you want the image to affect them and then how to achieve that goal. Is your story going to be in black and white or infrared? Is it going to be realistic or abstract? Pros use different styles of photography to keep producing interesting stories consistently.

Boat Friends - landscape photography tips from pros

4. Less can be more

In landscape photography, being more selective with the views you present tells a more effective story, so pros understand the power of good composition (a vast topic all on its own). One of the rules of good composition is that your image should contain just enough detail. In landscape photography you do not have the luxury of physically moving things around, so you must arrange the elements of an image by changing your position. This also helps with finding the most flattering view, or one that tells a different story.

Ocean Sunrise landscape photography tips from pros

Choosing the important elements in your photo to highlight helps you decide what to include in the frame and what to leave out. Make your subject dominate by accentuating it with one or few related elements, remembering to declutter as much as you can. As a general rule, if an element in your image doesn’t enhance the subject, it may be detracting from it.

Lily Pond - landscape photography tips from pros

5. Know your post-processing

Ideally, you want to get the shot right in-camera and eliminate or minimize your post-processing. With so many features and settings on DSLRs now, it is possible to produce the image you want. If this does not materialize, then you need the ability to do basic adjustments. These include changes to color and contrast, exposure adjustments, straightening, and cropping.

Check out these dPS articles for tips on processing:

How Cropping in Post-Production Can Improve Composition
4 Key Lightroom Sliders That Will Supercharge Your Photos
How to Enhance Urban Night Photographs Using Luminosity Masks in Photoshop
3 Fun Ways to Enhance Your Landscape Images in Photoshop

Glass Bottomed Boat - landscape photography tips from pros

Pros know the importance of post-processing. That is one of the main reasons they shoot in RAW to capture all the uncompressed image data, which leads to higher quality images in the end.

Post-processing can also add that unique element of you. Decide if the shot you took is what you wanted to achieve or you can choose to adjust elements until you get the image you want to present. Digital photography has made it easier to post-process than the dark rooms of yesteryear but it also makes it easier to go overboard easily. So determine your vision for the final image and learn to execute it properly so you produce an image that represents you.

South Beach - landscape photography tips from pros

Conclusion

These are just a few of the things to keep in the back of your mind when you are creating images. Staying consistent means staying creative or constantly challenging yourself to try something different or learn something new. When you get to your location, think about how you can make the image your own. There is nothing more amazing than producing a piece that someone can identify as yours even before they confirm you did it. Share with us how else you stay consistent when shooting.

When you get to your location, think about how you can make the image your own. There is nothing more amazing than producing a piece that someone can identify as yours even before they confirm you did it. Share with us how else you stay consistent when shooting and any other landscape photography tips you have learned.

The post 5 Tried and True Landscape Photography Tips used by the Pros by Nisha Ramroop appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Weekly Photography Challenge – Blue

01 Oct

Color is an important element of composition in photography. Cool colors have a very different feeling then do warm colors. See how the color blue appears in some images here.

By Tim Green

Weekly Photography Challenge – Blue

This week we challenge you to find and photography some subjects which are blue. Then photograph it in a compelling way. Remember to consider lighting, composition, and center of interest to create a unique image.

By Neil Tackaberry

By Di_Chap

By Alvaro

By Darlene Hildebrandt

Share your images below:

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer, upload them to your favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge. Sometimes it takes a while for an image to appear so be patient and try not to post the same image twice.

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

You can also share your images on the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

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18 Tranquil Images of Blue to Cool Your Thoughts

30 Sep

Different colors evoke different emotions and have a different feeling to them. Warm colors like red, orange and yellow feel alive and vibrant. Cool colors like purple, green and blue feel calming and relaxing.

Here is an image collection of various different photographers use of the color blue. View each and see how they make you feel. Do these blue images have a calming effect on you? I feel more relaxed just looking them.

I’ll start off with three of my images from the “blue” city of Chefchaouen in Morocco.

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